A Cross street resident reported a white powder in
his mailbox on Thursday, October 25. Police collected the mail in the box
and some of the powder and took it
to the state lab for investigation on Thursday evening. There did not
appear to be any powder on the mail.

Lieutenant John Sullivan said a determination and
an answer was expected from the state lab on Monday. After many attempts,
he did get through to the lab on
Monday morning and was told there were 800 requests for analyses ahead of
Carlisle's. Possibly because of the mail-related aspect of the Carlisle
substance, the analysis of the
letters and substance were prioritized and after continued attempts to get
through on the state lab line, Sullivan learned on Thursday afternoon that
the envelopes and white
powder were negative for anthrax.

Police chief David Galvin indicated he did not
think the powder found was a hoax. Had the tests been positive or had the
powder been a known hoax, it would have
been a federal offense and the FBI would have been involved. Galvin stated
that no cases of anthrax have been found in Massachusetts.